Hello New Player:
Welcome to FFXI! We are very happy to have you on-board: the influx of new players into the game is what sustains the vibrant FFXI community. I am not the most experienced player in this game, and I am not the best player in this game. So I write as "one of you", a relatively new player who's had considerable success making my way in Van'Diel. I have some strategies for making money, I've learned a bit about a few NMs, and I also know a thing or two about experience points parties. So I humbly offer some advice that has helped me get through my FFXI career to this point:
1. First, if your PT is getting 1.5k exp per hour, it sucks. Time to shake things up! If you are the leader of this party, that should serve as an indication that you've either picked the wrong combination of jobs, or someone isn't doing their job properly. So when the third White Mage in your PT indicates that he needs a replacement, don't replace him with another White Mage! Ask yourself: "what is my party lacking?" And act accordingly.
2. Second, when someone with a rank 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 and, to a lesser extent, 5, gives you some friendly advice about how to do your job, hear them out. The chances are they know what they're saying and that your game will only improve by listening to them. That's how I improve; listening to more experienced players give me tips and tricks on doing my job better.
3. If you are, say, an RDM, and you have a PT replete with Nins or NIn subs and a WHM, ask yourself two questions: why am I healing, and why do I have so much MP? The answer to this question is that you are basically useless to your pt, and are wasting your MP on healing when you should be nuking. When the WHM offers you some advice to this effect, and you continue to heal players who have full HP, that means that you suck. And the problem outlined in point # 1 is probably in no small part of your doing. To correct this problem before it becomes a habit, please follow point # 2.
4. Gil is one of those words in the English language for which you need not add an "s" or a "z" when pluralizing. "Gilz" and "Gils" are akin to saying "yous" and "we's".
5. There is no need to insert <call1> through <call3> into your provoke or Cure Macros. I know you are curing or provoking because an animation appears on my screen: scaring the beejesus out of me every time you perform a basic function is not conducive to generating good team spirit. We all enjoy the sounds in this game, so please don't ruin it for us by forcing your party mates to turn off their speaker volume.
6. Asking for GIL is akin to spitting on the Pope in a crowd full of Catholics. If you do it, especially in /say or /shout mode, you shall wear a "Newbatross" around your neck for much of your in-game career. If you also pluralize Gil while shouting about how badly you need it, that "Newbatross" shall simply overwhelm you.
7. Some people ask: is it ok for me to do things around the house and talk on MSN Messenger or the telephone while playing FFXI? The answer, of course, is "Yes, absolutely"! This is just a game and it's YOUR time to relax. That said, it not ok to do the aforementioned activities while in a group with other players. This is a community game, and if you decide to have intercourse with your dog in my pt, you are not only wasting your own time but also the time of everyone else in your pt. So please, if you are distracted, do some solo work: farm, craft, or level a lower leveler character.
8. Going afk is a normal part of life. Only the hardcore end-game crowd use piss-jugs like truckers. That said, the urge to defecate only rarely comes about suddenly. If this happens to you frequently, then please see a doctor; I am not a health care professional, but I've seen on TV commercials that "going problems" are often actually "growing problems". Nonetheless, if you notice that a few people in your pt are going afk for whatever reason, that represents a good time to relieve yourself as well. There is little benefit of holding it in until those players return, and then going afk yourself a few minutes later.
9. No need at all to put macros in shout mode. You are "casting your divine power on <t> to replenish their life-giving essence"? You are using "Nitro Booster to Run with the Chocos?" Well that's great! Fine by me! But I don't need to hear about it when I'm in your pt, and I sure as hell don't need to hear about it when I'm outside your pt. So please, if you must wear the badge of noobness by macroing everything you do, keep it confined to your own pt. There is no need to cast AoE newbness on everyone in your zone.
10. Weapon skills are important in most situations. It is not ok to solo your ws because you don't want to pay enough attention to the game to help your pt with a skillchain. Skillchains are a big help to parties--especially when magic casters are present--and so please be considerate of others before ignoring the party's established skill chain.
11. It is not ok to ask a person to perform a job that they don't want to perform. Your War/thf doesn't want to tank and you think she should, that's too bad for you. Get another member and move on with your life.
12. If people in your pt ask you questions and you NEVER respond, that signals to them that you either don't speak their language or are not paying attention to the game. I know that levelling gets tiresome sometimes and that you may simply want to get your levels without paying any attention to the game, but please, play with yourself on your own time. If you are self-abusing yourself while in a pt, then the whole party suffers, not just the kittens you're killing or the soldiers you're losing.
13. Oh wow! A ranger is LFG and your party needs a puller!! Great news! Now, what do you do? Option A entails sending the person a party invite! They'll accept, right? Probably not! It is proper etiquette to invite them to your pt by asking them first, and they sending a party invite once they accept. That's what people mean by "blind invites".
14. You are going to die! Simple as that. Crying about it, throwing blame around, or otherwise acting like a complete wuss is likely to get you blacklisted by your other pt members. Don't be baby! Grow up, suck it up, and get used to the concept of death and dying in Van'Diel.
15. DO NOT LEAVE A PT WITHOUT GIVING NOTICE. If your house is seriously on fire, or if your PT leader is seriously an idiot, or if you PT seriously sucks, then it's ok to fake D/C or just leave: you can't possibly find a replacement for yourself because that would inflict pain and torture on your unsuspecting replacement. In almost all other situations, though, it is completely rude to bail on your pt without notice, especially, and I mean especially here for ANY reason, if you just leveled.
16. There are two lists in this game: /blacklist and /friendlist. I've focused my advice on keeping you off /blacklist. You'll have to find your own ways to get on /friendlist. Common courtesy goes a long way in Van Diel, especially with the Japanese. If you camp on another party's camp, if you steal mining/harvesting points when a player is already there, or if you act like an overall idiot, then you'll probably never get to enjoy this game to anywhere near its fullest.
There is much more and there are also many guides available on this site and others that can help you make the most of your FFXI career. I realize that anybody who starts the game with the desire to learn probably doesn't need the advice that I've provided in this guide. Just like the RL, those who inquire often need far less help than those who never inquire. But let me just say this: we are newbs for a long time in this game. It is important to keep an open mind and to keep learning from more experienced players. I don't care if you're level 50, or even level 60, we're still a newb compared to the bulk of the in-game community. So please don't arrive in Garlaige Citadel with your Rank 3 and your level 30 job and assume that you've got the world figured out!!
Keeping an inquiring mind and avoiding idiocy and idiots is the key to success in Van'Diel.
Good luck.
Basset
Edited, Nov 30th 2006 6:10am by basset
Edited, Nov 30th 2006 6:13am by basset
----------------------------
Hades: PLD70/WAR35/RNG15/MNK14/NIN12 Rank 6
Alchemy65/Goldsmithing22/Smithing18/Leather8
Elvann San d'Oria
Fenrir: BLM52/BRD32/WHM27/BST20/THF5/RNG5 Rank 3
Cooking30/Alchemy4/Fishing3
Taru San d'Oria
I don't ask people multiple times though.
There are definitely people that take it too far and I can understand it being a pet peeve.